Who will be the next Anne Frank?

Thought for the day

Anne Frank was a Jewish teenager when she and her family went into hiding during WWII. For two years, they all lived in fear of being discovered. To occupy her time while being hidden, Anne began keeping a diary. Tragically, the Nazis found the Frank family.

Anne died of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, but her words have been read worldwide. "The Diary of Anne Frank" is one of the most celebrated books of all time. Published in more than 70 languages, young Anne reminds us that hope and beauty can exist, even in the darkest of times.

This past weekend marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, one of the Nazi's most notorious concentration camps. Why mention Auschwitz now? Because Donald Trump has authorized Immigration, Customs and Enforcement (ICE) personnel, U.S. military forces and local law officials to begin the process of rounding up, housing and ultimately deporting 15 million undocumented migrants coast to coast. Sound familiar? Imagine the impact these deportations will have on the construction industry or farmers harvesting their crops.

Not only that, imagine what this will mean to their families. In Oklahoma, the state Board of Education voted yesterday to prevent children from being admitted to schools until their parents provide proof of citizenship. The alarm bells are ringing so loudly, many parents say they will keep their kids home where, presumably, they'll be "safe."

Now that deportations have morphed from a campaign pledge to actually happening, I wonder who will be the next Anne Frank? Will it be a teenage Selena Ortega* from Columbia or a Maria Gonzalez* from Mexico who writes the next world-acclaimed diary?

I don't know the answer but I do know this: The president wants 1,500 people a day to be apprehended. At this rate, approximately 550,000 undocumented migrants will be expelled each year Mr. Trump is in office. Deporting another 13 million people at this daily rate will take at least two decades to accomplish. By then, many of today's teenagers will be parents. Will ICE be looking to round them up in, say, 2045?

*These names are fictitious but the deportations are real. As always, I encourage you to send me your reaction to today’s post.

-DF